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SNEAK PEEK -DURION OF THE DEEP POOLS - PATREON EXCLUSIVE
🕑 Added 2018-10-31 04:24:21 +0000 UTC Dragons do not hoard.
Dragon's guard.
People often mistake one for the other, especially when the luster of gold overtakes their senses and they can not see past it to what the monstrous beast really considers to be treasure. After all, what purpose could a dragon really have for gold and jewels? No, the trinkets exist to distract the unwise and the greedy. Let them take their prize and think themselves the victors. Many a dragon has played dead and let a trespasser walk away with their prize rather than reveal the truth.
Dragons guard things that mortals were not meant to trespass upon. Tomes of knowledge that unleash Eldritch horrors beyond description. Portals that open the pathways between worlds. Things that are far too dangerous to be allowed into the unsteady and temperamental hands of humans and their dubious intent.
It is said that the first dragon was made when the Emperor of the Fae needed someone to guard the portals between the world of the fairy folk and that of humans. This first dragon was emerald green, and her name was said to be unpronounceable by any but the Emperor himself. He used her secret name to bind her to his purpose, and for three thousand years she was unwavering in her duty. But three thousand years is a long time, and fairies are not known for their patience. One day, the Emperor of the Fae was deposed, and it was not until after he had been relieved of his head that the new rulers discovered they had neglected to discern the name of the guardian dragon! Without her name, they could not open the portal! And she was most uncooperative.
“I know my duty! My lord may have been murdered, but my will is unwavering! Fight me if you dare!” She howled, winding herself around the base of her home and rearing up to invite an attack. The fae rulers retreated, and began to scheme. For a hundred or so years (which is little enough in the life of a fairy, but infinitesimal in the life of a dragon), they did not dare approach again. But one day, a handsome young pucca was sent, with fine long horns and a clever smile. He brought with him hundreds of casks of dark red wine, and he approached the guardian dragon without the slightest fear.
“Good morning, fine lady!” He yelled up to her, the great beast watching him with interest. “Forgive my intrusion! I was wandering about and I saw your glittering scales and could not resist a closer look! Who are?”
But the dragon, who had been created and lived among the fae folk, was not foolish. “I am the great guardian of the portal between worlds! I am the untamable and unbroken! I was made by the Emperor of your people, and I will not be tricked by some upstart pucca!”
But the pucca laughed, and shook his head. “You mistake me, great lady! I did not come to challenge! Who would I be to attempt such a thing?” He showed himself, his drab clothing and feral appearance discerning him as a fae of no court or means. “I merely came to quench my curiosity. Now that I have, I will be on my way.”
The dragon watched him for a moment, looking eagerly at the barrels of wine as her mouth watered. “Wait. What have you there?”
“This? Oh. I brew. I brew the sweetest and most delectable wine in a dozen realms. I was taking my wares to market when I spied you.” There was nothing trust worthy about the pucca's smile, but it was no less charming for that fact. “Since I have bothered you from your duty, perhaps I could earn your forgiveness by offering up a few barrels.”
She looked with longing at the wine. Her Emperor had always been diligent in his treatment of her, but since his dead she had taken to hunting. She often missed his sweetmeats and wine he sent to thank her for her diligence. “I could be persuaded to take a few barrels from you.”
“Of course!” And the pucca gave her ten barrels filled so full that the wood was turning purple. He watched, that same easy smile on his face, as she drained each of them, spilling not a drop. She was, after all, a dragon of good breeding and manners. “Is your thirst quenched my lady?” he asked coyly.
“Ahhh. It has been a long time since I had wine!” She admitted keenly. If you chance this way again, I might be convinced to spare you in exchange for a few more barrels.”
And so the pucca began to come by every so often, waiting just long enough that the great dragon would wish for him to visit once more. He was a clever creature, and made himself a good conversationalist as they visited, slowly earning her trust. One day, he came with twenty barrels, and offered them to her. By now, she trusted him well enough to drink them without reservation.
The pucca waited until her eyes were heavy and her great coiled body began to loosen. Then, he began to speak to her in earnest. “I confess, great lady, I have found myself grown quite fond of you in these past years.”
“Hurumph. I confess I may be fonder of you than I am of most.”
“Flatterer. I imagine it must be lonely for you here in this far away land, guarding the portal.”
“Indeed. My Emperor once promised to make a mate for me, but he was unable to do so before he was deposed. I often wonder what it might have been like to have such a thing.” She confessed, sighing wistfully. “Do you have a wife?”
“A wife? No. No one yet has managed to tie me down and make an honest pucca out of me. I doubt any ever could, were I inclined to be honest. Yet I have pleased many a maid and man, and found my pleasure in them. So it is not all together bad, I think.”
The great dragon laughed. “Were you but a few hundred meters longer, I think we would make fine sport of one another!”
The pucca's smile became thin, and his eyes devilish. “And what if I could?”
“Could what?”
“Make myself of a size more suited to your own.”
The dragon stared at him as though she dared not believe such a thing. “You can now! DO not lie to me, little pucca!”
“I would never!” He insisted, appearing insulted. “I promise no more than what I am capable of offering. If I could make myself suitable, and by these means, please you, what then?”
The dragon, who was wise, but also drunk and horny, laughed and did not believe him. “If you can, then I would give you my name!”
The pucca stood, took a few steps back, and grew himself, stretching his body and becoming of a suitable size and shape so as to work with the guardian dragon's. So amazed was she that she did not consider how she would have to make good on her promise! The two of them fell into a great writhing, and for weeks neither spoke of anything save their entanglement.
But soon enough, the time came, and the pucca demanded the prize he had won by rights.
“Will you accept nothing else, my lover? I have much I could give.”
“I would receive it gladly, but I am afraid I was called upon to serve a sacred duty of my own, and as you guard the tree which connects our world to that of the humans, I can not renege on my vow.” He sighed mournfully, for he was fond of her in his own way. But when a fae offers their word, there is little they can do to change it. “But I make you this promise. I swore to those in power that I would discover your name, but not that I would share it with them! I will learn it, and I will keep it to myself. Telling no one.”
The guardian dragon spoke her name aloud, and the pucca locked it away in his heart. But he paid a heavy price for his little secret. For the ruling factions of the fae folk had a troublesome creature they wished to rid themselves of. Their intention was to banish her through the portal, and so when the pucca refused to reveal the dragons name to them, they tricked him into the portal as well, sealing him off from the rest of the fae. He knew that if he ever wished to return, he would be forced to reveal to his mistress that it was he who was the architect of her defeat, and he would have to be very foolish indeed to believe she would ever find it in herself to forgive him.
The pucca took his own small revenge. For the guardian dragon found herself with a clutch of her own. And from this clutch, all the dragons of the realms are descended. Many chose to remain within the fae, but some, knowing their mothers name from birth, have trespassed into the mortal realm. They have all the dignity of their mother, and all the cunning of their father. Some have been entrusted thought the centuries to guard many precious artifacts. Others have been worshiped as near gods. But all remember the value of secrets, and the cost of letting them be known.
Comments
PonPanda383
Wow, he big. REALLY BIG. Durion is definitely one of the most interesting monsters I'm forward to "meeting". ;D
TheRedHarlequin
Ooooh, I will look forward to meeting him~
